Oh a long time you know Ive been waiting
For those words which you never did say
Now alas all my found hopes have vanished
For they tell me your going away
From this valley they say you are going
I shall miss your bright eyes and sweet smile
For you also take with you the sunshine
That has brightened my pathway the while

Then consider awhile ere you leve me
Do not hasten to bid me adieu
But remember the red river valley
And the maiden whose heart beats for you

Then remember the valley your leaving
How lonely and dreary it will be
and remember the heart you are grieving
And be true to your promise to me

When you go to your home by the ocean
May you never forget the sweet hours
That we spent in the red river valley
Nor the vows we exchanged mid its flowers

Oh there never could be such a longing
In the heart of a white maidens breast
As there is in this heart that is breaking
With love for the boy who came west

And the dark maidens prayer for her lover
To the spirit that rules o’er the world
Is that sunshine his pathway may cover
Leave his grief to the red river girl

In the little old church in the valley
Where I first learned of sorrow and joy
I can see mother there with her head bowed in prayer
As she prayed for her wandering boy
Oh twas there that I first found my Sally
Like an angel on earth so it seems
As she sang sweet and low in the long long ago
In the little old church of my dreams

On a dark ans stormy night
The rain was falling fast
The two cracked trains on the Southern road
With Flairing whistle sped
Were speeding down the line
For home and Christmas day
On the Royal Palm and Palm City [Anne]
Was laughter bright and gay

When coming around the curve
At Forty miles an hour
The Royal Palm was making time
Neath an interdrenching shower
There came a mighty crash
The two great engines met
And in the minds of those who lived
There’s a scene they’ll never forget

It was an awful sight
Beneath the pouring rain
The dead and dying lying there
Beneath that might train
No tongue can ever tell
No pen will ever write
No one will ever know but those who saw
The horrors of that night

On board the two great trains
The folks were bright and gay
When like a flash the Master called
They had no time to pray
And in a moment’s time
The awful work was done
And many souls that fatal night
Had made their final run

There’s many a saddened home
Since that sad Christmas day
Those loved ones never will return
To drive the gloom away
They were on teh Royal Palm
As she sped Across the state
Without a moment’s notice cried
They went to meet their fate

Were on the road of life
And like the railroad man
We aught to do the best to make
The station if we can
So let us all take care
And keep our orders straight
For if we get our orders mixed
Will surely be to late

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What is this?

An Ethnomusicalogial transcription of folk song lyrics from an original 1928 source scribed by Frances Jackson of Wingham, Ontario, Canada. Transcription done by her great grand daughter, a Master of Arts candidate at York University in Toronto - Jacklin Falconer. December 2008.